


The Start of Something New

by ThePancakePenguin



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-07-02 06:21:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15790755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePancakePenguin/pseuds/ThePancakePenguin
Summary: “Hey!”Her head whipped up at the voice. She turned from the dude she somehow froze to the wall to see an all too familiar red and blue body leaning over a roof to peer into the alley.





	The Start of Something New

**Author's Note:**

> Updates for FBA are coming soon and this is a totally self-indulgent thing that I doubt will actually go anywhere but I'm under the weather and have been marathoning my favorite shows and felt like writing this.

“Hey!”

Her head whipped up at the voice. She turned from the dude she somehow froze to the wall to see an all too familiar red and blue body leaning over a roof to peer into the alley.

“Nice work! Hope he doesn’t get frostbite or something. ‘Cause that would totally make that an uncool thing to do. Or would it still be cool? 'Cause the water and ice? I don’t really know”

She might as well be frozen to the wall as well. She’s stricken with fear, a burning cold forming a rock in her stomach. What the hell is Spider-Man doing so far out of Queens? Sure, he’ll pop up in the other boroughs on occasion, but not unless he’s pursuing some evildoer.

What if he thinks that evil-doer is _her?_

Spidey hops down and lands a few yards away, holding his hands up in a placating manner. “Hey, it’s okay. I don’t want to hurt you. I want to talk. You can, uh,” he paused and gestured to her hands, where the water has unconsciously migrated to form something resembling gauntlets. “You can….not do that? I promise I’m friendly.”

She swallows back the lump in her throat. “‘Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man?’”

He nods enthusiastically. “Yeah! Exactly!” He shifts on his feet for a moment and sighs. “Okay, here, how ‘bout this?” He slowly lowers his arms and relaxes his stance, trying to make himself less of a threat.

She finds herself relaxing too. “Sorry,” she waves her hands a bit. “I’d put the water away, but….I, don’t really know how.”

“Okay, so, the powers thing. That’s recent?”

“Yeah. The first time it happened was when you and that crazy lady were duking it out on my campus.”

“Heh, yeah, sorry about that.”

“It’s….” well it isn’t _okay,_ because her friends almost got killed, not to mention the damage done to the school. “I’m sure you did your best.”

“Yeah. Listen, I, I came to thank you, first of all. I mean, you really shouldn't have put yourself in danger, but you did stop her. And you saved me.”

She nods. Spidey takes a few slow steps forward.

“And also, I wanted to….” he shrugs. “Help you, I guess? I don’t know if you really need it or not, but, speaking from experience, doing something like this alone, it….it can end badly. For you and for others.”

“I get it. So, what’s your plan here, exactly?”

“I’ve got connections. We can help you control this, provide you protection, and be there when you get in over your head with this stuff.”

Truth be told, she’s been in over her head the moment Spider-Man crashed through the cafeteria window. “How can I trust you. If I go with you, you could….you could hand me over to the government to be dissected, or something. How do I know for sure you don’t have ulterior motives?”

“Look, Mr. Stark didn’t even want me looking for you. He said you could be too dangerous, and that I should just let him approach you. But, I knew that wouldn’t work. Heck, you just about water-gunned me away earlier. I know you’re not trying to hurt anyone, you’re just scared and confused about all this, but he may not have seen it the same way if you just attacked him.” He stepped closer, stopping when she took a small step back. “I want to help you, but I gotta be honest, you gotta work with me here. If you come with me, it’ll be a sign of good faith. If things start to get messy, I can vouch for you. I don’t have the whole story, but please, let me help you.”

She took a few deep breaths. Should she risk it? He seemed sincere. And this isn’t some Avenger parading around and causing mindless damage. At least she hopes the recent destruction of her high school and a chunk of Washington Heights wasn't intentional. This is Spider-Man. The dude walks kids home and saves cats from trees.

With a wave of her hand, she directs the water back into her pouch. “Okay.”

Spidey jumps a little. “Great! That’s awesome! Come with me.” He jumps onto the wall and starts to climb it, but stops when he realizes that she can’t exactly follow him. “Um, hold on a sec,” He hops back down and approaches her, holding his hands out awkwardly. “I could, uh, I could carry you up there? It’ll be quick, and I’m pretty strong so it won’t be a problem.”

“I guess?” She responds warily.

“Okay, okay,” he scoops her up and steps to the wall. “Uh, just hold on to me so I can climb up.”

They get onto the roof with the least amount of embarrassment as possible. Spidey sets her down and excuses himself to make a call to someone.

She takes the opportunity to overlook the skyline. She can see the sun falling behind the Hudson and the George Washington Bridge with its early evening traffic.

 _“Just me and the GWB asking 'Gee Nina, what’ll you be?'”_   She hums the tune to herself, and it reminds her to  _"just breathe."_

“Okay, Mr. Stark is on his way to yell at me for disobeying him and take us back to the compound. We can talk about all this there. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Thank you,” she says quietly, leaning against the edge of the roof.

There are a few minutes of tense silence between them before Spidey clears his throat and looks at her. “So, uh, are you like, a water bender?”

It startles a laugh out of her. “I hope it’s just that. I don’t think I’d be the greatest candidate for the Avatar.”

“I know what you mean. Must be hard enough just trying to master one element. So, uh, what tribe do you think you'd be from? The north or the south?”

And slowly, they start to relax. They ask each other some non-invasive questions about their powers, some of the bad guys they’ve stopped recently, and spend a few minutes trying to come with a superhero name for her.

Spidey perks up a few moments before Iron Man swoops down onto the roof, and wow, okay, that suit look a lot more intimidating in person.

Spidey must sense her tension because he quickly stands between the two of them. “Please, Mr. Stark. She just needs help, she’s not trying to hurt anyone.”

“I’m sure you believe that, kid.” Iron Man says, disappointment and apprehension coloring his tone. “I wanna believe that too. Can’t blame me for erring on the side of caution, can you?’

“It’s okay,” she speaks up. “I get it. I wouldn’t really trust myself in this situation either.” She reaches to drop her bag but halts when Iron Man raises a hand. “I’m just setting the bag down. It has water in it for me. I carry it so I always have some in case it’s not available elsewhere.” She drops it and nudges it to Spidey with her foot. “Completely vulnerable now. I’m willing to talk all of this out. I’m not looking for trouble here.”

Spidey takes her bag and steps out of Iron Man’s way, wringing his hands nervously.

“Okay, I’ll keep things simple: How long you been doing this?”

“You mean, how long have I had these powers? I don’t really know. One day Spider-Man and some evil lady start fighting on my campus, and my friends are about to be crushed. I run to them and stretch my hands out, and the water fountain bursts and blasts her back. Suddenly, I can control water, in ways I probably don’t even know yet.” She looks to Spidey as she finishes, hoping he can understand her wink under her visor.

“Okay, so you suddenly have superpowers. Then what?”

“I’m trying to learn how to control them, and I start finding more stuff involving that crazy lady. I dig deep enough for a few weeks and one night I see them fighting again in some abandoned part of my neighborhood. I tried to help, and it kinda worked, so I think _‘hey, maybe I can help even more people like Spider-Man."_  There’s not much else to it.”

Iron Man is quiet for some time. Long enough for her to feel like she’s said the wrong thing, and maybe she should be running.

“You got anywhere you need to be?”

“I don’t-”

“Doesn’t matter, I can get you out of it. How ‘bout you come up to the compound with me, and we continue with our chat.”

Running won’t get her far. “Okay.”

“Alrighty. Car’s down the street. Kid,” he turns to Spider-Man. “Web on back to Queens. I got it from here.”

“Wait, Mr. Stark-”

“Don’t think you’re off the hook, we’ll be having a discussion about you going behind my back. Again. But for now, it’s on the back burner.”

“I’m coming.”

Iron Man stops and turns to face him fully. “What?”

“I want to come.” He squares himself up a bit more, speaking confidently. “Mr. Stark, I’m sure you’re not gonna do anything to her, but, I want her to feel safe.”

She’s grateful he’s stepping up, even if it kinda hurts that he knows she could still lash out if she feels threatened. It’s not like he’s wrong.

Stark gives a long sigh and shakes his head, gesturing behind him and taking off down the street to the car. Spidey offers her some help down and climbs in the back seat with her.

A few minutes into the drive, Spider-Man pulls off his mask to reveal his young face and curly hair. He smiles and offers his hand. "I'm Peter."

Some of her nerves dissipate. Bless this guy sticking his neck out for a complete stranger. She takes his hand and smiles back.

"Valerie."

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah I made a marvelsona. I might post art on [tumblr](https://thepancakepenguin.tumblr.com/) if anyone wants to see it, and I might even continue this if anyone is interested.


End file.
